The Voice of Reason: 'Beckett' actor Will Lyman

Sunday

Apr 23, 2017 at 9:00 AM

By Alexander Stevens, Daily News Correspondent

When Will Lyman performed the title role in “King Lear” on the Boston Common in 2015, he was a bit startled at how old he looked with his long gray whiskers. He observed, with a chuckle, that when the show was over, maybe he could shed the old-guy makeup, shave the beard and get back to playing the leading man.

It looks like that plan is back on hold.

“I’m playing another old guy!” he says with a laugh.

Lyman performs the one-man play “Krapp’s Last Tape,” Samuel Beckett’s little masterpiece about an old man whose artistic ambitions may have distracted him from the important things in life.

“Krapp’s Last Tape” is one of three short works by Beckett that are being presented under the title of “Beckett in Brief.” The other works are “Rough for Radio II” and “The Old Tune.” Presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, performances run April 27 to May 7, at Babson College in Wellesley. The three plays aren’t randomly selected. Steven Maler (CSC artistic director), James Seymour (director of “Beckett in Brief”) and Lyman believe they’ve found three pieces that are unified in theme, even though Beckett didn’t write them as a trio.

“Each of these plays speaks to the issue of what we think is important in our lives,” says Lyman. “Also, Beckett is big on the idea that tomorrow is going to be better than today. He doesn’t like to look back. And yet these three pieces are very much about memories and the past.”

In “Krapp’s Last Tape,” we find a man alone in a room. The setting feels like a post-apocalyptic bunker – “Never knew such silence. The Earth might be uninhabited,” says Krapp. He’s surrounded by audio tapes that he’s made on his birthdays. He’s 69, listening to himself at 39, a time when he made crucial decisions that paved the way to his future.

Beckett wrote “Rough for Radio II” as a radioplay in 1961. It’s a lyrical piece that can be hard to decipher, but it’s often viewed as an allegory for the creative process. “It’s about the extremes that people will go to "to achieve their goals, says Lyman. “Even to the extent of cruelty.”

And “The Old Tune” is about two elderly gentlemen who meet in the park and chat. “They discuss the things that are important to them,” says Lyman, “and they’re all memories.”

The short works delve into themes that clearly inspired Beckett as an artist: age, accomplishment, and the (in)significance of life.

“We hope audiences will see the through-line in the three pieces,” says Lyman, who lives in Jamaica Plain.

Fans of Beckett may recognize a familiar bleakness.

“I think Beckett went through a dark period,” says Lyman, “and it’s reflected in his works. I think he was asking himself: Did I do anything that amounted to anything? He talks about that in ‘Krapp’s Last Tape.’ Krapp says he can barely stand to listen to [his old self on tape] with all his false bravado.”

If Beckett pondered the significance of his life, then what hope is there for the rest of us? It would be tough to leave Beckett off your list of the Top Five Playwrights of All-Time.

And yet Lyman has rarely performed Beckett’s work, although he once tackled “Krapp’s Last Tape.”

“Jim Seymour and I did ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ 40 years ago, when we were in our mid-20s,” says Lyman, and then he adds, with a laugh, “We’re doing it again now that I’m more age-appropriate.”

Needless to say, they’ve got a deeper understanding of the play now.

“It speaks to me very differently than it did 40 years ago,” says Lyman, who will turn 69 – Krapp’s age – soon after the play closes.

It’s possible to interpret “Krapp’s Last Tape” as a kind of cautionary tale. The old man seems to have pursued his lofty ambitions at the expense of his personal life. It’s a mistake Lyman has avoided. Not only is he one of Boston’s most respected actors, Lyman has built a full family life. He’s married, and he and his wife have a daughter, Georgia, also an actor.

Lyman has acted in a number of films, including "Mystic River" and "The Siege." In addition, he's carved out a highly successful voice-over career. His please-remain-calm baritone provides the perfectly measured narration for PBS’ “Frontline” series. And just when you thought that steadiness meant the man was humorless, along comes the very clever and funny “Dos Equis” commercials, featuring the Most Interesting Man in the World, and narrated by, perhaps, The Most Trusted Voice on TV.

“In fact, I recorded a couple of those this morning,” says Lyman.

In 2014, Lyman’s solemn “Frontline” narration provided him with another chance for laughs. He got to lampoon his signature voice on an episode of “The Simpsons.”

“It was kind of a kick to actually do an episode of ‘The Simpsons,’ ” says Lyman. “They were extremely nice to me. They even humored me with my suggestions. I suggested a couple alternative ways to say things. And they said, ‘Yes, that sounds great. Give it a try.’ And then when I saw the finished episode, it was exactly the way they had written it!”